Blog Tour: California Revival Knits, by Stephannie Tallent

Hoo-boy. Barely recovered from my trip to Atlanta, in the throes of making sock monkey bike helmet covers for the middle school's Wizard of Oz production (don't ask),

it is the perfect time to take a break and look at a new book full of pretty things.  Today we are a stop on the blog tour for California Revival Knits, by Stephannie Tallent.  You may know Stephannie from her blog, Sunset Cat, or from her many designs appearing on Ravelry and elsewhere.  In California Revival Knits, published by Cooperative Press (digital/PDF available right now, for $16.95; digital plus preorder for print is 26.95 plus shipping), Stephannie presents a collection of designs inspired by a style of California architecture.

To me, California Revival can include Mission, Spanish Colonial or Spanish revival styles; at a certain point, unless you're a historical architectural scholar, the differences are very tiny. Regardless, all those styles feature stucco, red tile roofs, coved ceilings, tile tile and more tile (with Spanish, Moorish or Mexican influences) and wrought iron. 

Stephannie walks us through a visit to Adamson House, a preserved California Revival house in  Malibu and introduces us to some of the pottery companies that still create tile characteristic of the Revival style. For those interested in the design process, Stephannie ncludes an explanation of she began with a particular architectural style and turned it into a collection of knitting patterns, for example, using the rich colors of the characteristic Revival tile to create a palette for the items in the book.

I counted 16 patterns (although Ravelry says 14, probably due to variations, like mittens and fingerless mitts), all for adult women. Two of these are sweater patterns, this tile inspired pullover with beaded accents

and my favorite pattern in the book, the Wrought cardigan.

Both are sized from XS to 3XL (finished chest circumferences extending to 55-ish inches) and feature full schematics and color charts.

With the exception of the Catalina Star pillow

the remaining patterns are all accessories.  The Peacock Stole is lovely lace (there's a Peacock cowl, too)

knit in a sportweight yarn (the cowl is shown in laceweight and fingering weight).

Stephannie obviously has a "talent" for colorwork; the Stairstep Tam does a great job of taking the California Revival palette and translating it into stranded motifs.

There are several pair of mitts and mittens, including the pretty Quatrefoil Mitts, in harmonious shades of blue (love that kitteh, too)

as well as am intarsia mitten and cowl combo that probably qualify as The Mother of All Duplicate-Stitch Projects (they use intarsia and beads, too).

Sockknitters will enjoy two pair of socks, one colorwork (the Fringe socks) and one featuring twisted stitches, the Wrought Socks:

And speaking of twisted stitches, you'll find Wrought Mitts and Beret  to go along with the Wrought Cardigan and Socks.

Sock patterns come in three sizes, some of the mitts/mittens in 2 (others in one size fits all), and the others in one size fits all (except the sweaters, as noted above). Fingering weight yarn (category 1) is the most common category of yarn used, and interestingly, nearly all the yarns are handdyes, mostly from small producers.

To sum up:  Stephannie Tallent and Cooperative Press present a lovely collection of garments in California Revival Knits, with pretty photography, all the amenities like charts and schematics (for sweaters), and lots of beautiful detail.  I especially love the use of semisolid handdyed yarns, and the creative ways that Stephannie Talent used her love of a particular style of architecture as jumping-off point for a terrific collection of patterns.

Next stop on the blog tour: Yarn A-Go-Go.....on April 30th.

Preview: Koigu Magazine No. 3

What fun!  It's time to preview another Koigu Magazine.  This one should be on your LYS shelves very soon, and as usual, is a mixture of different styles, different types of garments and different techniques, with one common factor: the wow of Koigu color.

Garment shown is Enchanted, by Taiu Landra

If you're a fan of Koigu, like I am, you know that Koigu colorways are like potato chips or M-and-Ms: so delicious it's impossible to limit yourself to one. And I think that is why so many designers like using multiple colorways when they knit with Koigu yarns.  The cover garment is one of several modular garments made with Koigu. I love the way one can acheive a stained-glass-like effect with modular knitting, as with German designer Angela Muhlpfordt's charming blanket with a geodesic effect.

MoMo's Throw, Angela Muhlpfordt

Another showstopper is Maie Landra's jacket, again using hexagons in multiple colors to create a lovely multihued fabric with drape:

Color Vision, Maie Landra

Fair isle and other stranded techniques are another great way to play with multiple balls of Koigu. Check out Barb Brown's wonderful Butterfly Socks, which are shown using several miniskeins of Koigu in random order for the contrast colours (in your honour, Barb, I've added the "u" to "color"). The directions for these socks give the knitter the option of randomly selecting colours for the butterfly motifs that go down the socks, and it's fascinating to me that even though the two socks use the colours in a different order, they don't look mismatched at all.  (Of course, these would also look divine with a single contrast colour of Koigu used for the motifs....)

I love the stitch pattern on the sole of the foot that repeats the striping in a different pattern.

One aspect of Koigu Magazine that I enjoy is seeing how different designers decide to play with their Koigu colors. After noodling around with quilting the past year, I was inspired to take multiple colorways of Kersti and create a brick-shaped patchwork for the front of this vest:

Candy Girl by me

Then it was fascinating to see how the same order of colors I used for the blocks stacked up on the back, when knit in simple stripes.

If you're in the mood for something done in a single colorway, check out Barb Brown's lovely Lucky Lady shawl, done in a blue like the sky on a summer day.

Lucky Lady, Barb Brown

Or how about this stunning cabled sweater from Korean (I think) designer Unjung Yun?

Golden Wings by Unjun Yun

 Laura Grutzeck designed this beautifully-tailored top, great for multi-season wear,

Laara, by Laura Grutzeck

or if you prefer a slightly more relaxed silhouette, there's Anniki Lepik's charming short-sleeved sweater.

Lilu, by Anniki Lepik

Perhaps I"m projecting, because when I designed Candy Girl, I was definitely thinking about Kersti, Taiu Landra's daughter, but there are several patterns that would be adorable on teen and tween girls, as well as women.  Brooke Nico designed this adorable dress (which could also be worn as a tunic), Gamine, with two different lacy stitch patterns (one on the bodice, the other on the skirt).

Gamine, Brooke Nico

 Laura Zukaite created a charming ensemble using a delicious red set of colorways:

Kadri, by Laura Zukaite

Crochet fans will be pleased to see this versatile cardigan:

Garden Cardi, Lindsey Stephens

and Mary Beth Temple's Mitered Crochet Throw shows another stylish way to use multiple colourways:

Mitred Crochet Throw, Mary Beth Temple

(That Mary Beth Temple --NOT to be confused with Mary Beth Klatt, who is a completely different person who had nothing to do with these designs -- also sneaked in a cute knitted cap:)

Beanie, Mary Beth Temple

Totals for those who like the numbers:

• 6 pullovers (3 long-sleeved, 3 short-sleeved)
• 7 cardigans (all but 1 or 2 are knitted, the others crocheted)
• 2 skirts
• 1 dress/tunic
• 3 sleeveless sweaters/vests
• 1 lace shawl
• 1 hat
• 1 pair stranded socks
• 1 knitted throw and 1 crocheted throw
• 1 doggie sweater
• 1 little girl's ensemble (hat, dress, sweater and skirt) 

There you have it: a sneak preview of Koigu Magazine No. 3. It will be arriving in stores soon, or ask your local purveyor of Koigu to order it for you!

Blog Tour: Beyond Knit & Purl by Kate Atherly

Hmmm. It didn't seem like that long since I blogged last, but apparently, it's been a little while.  Nothing major going on here: getting lots of yarn dyed for the trunk show at Loop kept me busy for a while,then a sweater to finish for the lovely folks at Universal Yarns, and now I'm finishing up a week with the kids on spring break. I am glad that our lovely friends at Cooperative Press sent me a review copy of Beyond Knit and Purl: Take Your Knitting to the Next Level, by Kate Atherly.  I agreed to be today's stop on a blog tour, so let's take a look.

Kate Atherly has been teaching knitting for nearly a decade, and when teaching newbies, she was asked the same questions, over and over:

What’s easy to knit? What’s a good first project? Where can I find good patterns? And inevitably: I’m tired of scarves. What’s next? 

Her book is her answer to these questions, and more importantly, to address the big challenge that new knitters face:  the fact that "there’s a big gulf between knowing how to knit and purl and knowing how to choose and successfully work a pattern."

Spring Leaves Shawl (Chapter 10)

Her book begins by helping new knitters (and probably a lot of not-so-knitters) make sense of knitting patterns. Chapter 1 starts off with advice for how to select a knitting pattern. Atherly begins by explaining difficulty ratings; gives some tips for how to estimate pattern difficulty with a quick scan; covers the importance of checking for errata and updates; and includes a chart, setting out type of garment along with typical skills needed and how that translates into easy or hard.

Lace Bookmark (Chapter 10)

Chapter 2 walks you through pattern prep, touching on issues like sizing, ease, fiber selection, gauge, quantity of yarn to buy and needle size. Chapter 3 covers issues that arise when actually reading the pattern, including terminology, how to read pattern-speak, reading charts, and how to reverse shaping. Chapter 4 addresses some issues that your pattern might not cover, such as how to join a new ball of yarn, how to measure your progress, and even what to do if things don't seem to be going well. Chapter 5 then covers a few additional issues, like continental vs. English knitting; care of knitwear; and additional references for both technical advice and patterns.

Cat Toy (Chapter 7)

The next section of Beyond Knit & Purl cover very specific skills that a newbie knitter needs to master. Chapter 6 is devoted to shaping, showing various types of increases and decreases, along with photographs of how to work them and -- very helpful -- clear photos of what the increases and decreases look like knit into a swatch. The chapter ends with three basic projects designed to illustrate these techniques, including washcloth, scarf and baby sweater.

One-Piece Baby Sweater (Chapter 6)

Chapter 7 explains knitting in the round, again with lots of photographs showing how to hold the needles and join, how to work the first stitch, distributing stitches and troubleshooting. You can practice by working a kitty-cat toy, then progressing to a slouchy hat, wristwarmers, and double-layered mittens.

Slouchy Hat (Chapter 7)

Chapter 8 looks at socks, giving a structural overview; outlining top-down and toe-up approaches, and starting the knitter off with a mini-sock. Next up is a toe-up basic pattern, a tutorial on Judy's Magic Cast-on, a cuff-down basic and ribbed patterns, and a brief section on designing socks.

Bias Scarf (Chapter 6)

The next few chapters cover specific skills:

• Chapter 9 covers cables, including how to  read cable patterns, charts, and includes a quickie pattern for a coffee cup cozy; the knitter can then progress to a chunky cable scarf  and hat, and cabled socks.  
• Chapter 10 is lace: basic mesh and fishnet patterns, reading charts, gauge, lifelines, and blocking. The first project is a sweet lace bookmark, and then the knitter can practice her skills on a Crest o' the Wave scarf, and two triangular shawls.
• Chapter 11 covers colorwork, from basic stripes to fair isle to intarsia. Projects begin with a cell phone cozy and include a candy-cane-themed Christmas stocking, a zigzag tam, and herringbone socks.

Houndstooth Socks (Chapter 11)

The book closes with the usuals -- glossary, bibliography and acknowledgements.  (You can purchase the book in print, digital or both forms here. The cost is $16.95 for the PDF version, and $26.95 (plus shipping) for both print and PDF version.)  There's a lot of good technical information in Beyond Knit & Purl, perfect for a knitter who's mastered the basic stitches but wants to learn more complex techniques without getting overwhelmed. The manageable projects will allow the less-experienced knitter to stretch her wings, again, without being overwhelmed and discouraged.

To learn more about the book and Kate, follow along with the blog tour:  next stop:  LeeLeetea.......on April 8th.

Sock Knitting Weekend at Loop

Just a quick reminder that this weekend is nirvana for Philly sock knitters. Author, teacher & designer Melissa Morgan-Oakes will be teaching classes at Loop Yarn Saturday and Sunday on knitting socks two at a time. Her classes are always very popular at knitting events, so call the shop if you're interested; last I heard there were only a few spaces left in each day's class.  (Full class details are here.)

To celebrate, I'll be bringing in lots of Black Bunny Fibers yarns for a trunk show. I'll be dropping them off Saturday morning for your perusal, and I'll be in the shop Sunday afternoon if you want to say hi. (And you don't have to be a sock knitter to check out the trunk show: I've got a batch of worsted weight yarns and a new scarf pattern that uses one skein of worsted weight.)

Hope to see you there!

Let's help out a reader

I received a lovely email from a reader named Diane. She belongs to a group that makes a lot of items for neonatal units and the medical professionals insist that only acrylic fingering weight yarn be used for the premie babies. The workhorse yarn that her group has relied on for a long time has been reformulated and now is knitting at a heavier gauge. She wrote to the company to ask about the change, and was told that the original formulation was too thin (!) and has been bulked up.  Which is kind of silly, since that means that it won't knit at the original gauge....So now she is trying to find an affordable, readily available substitute.

However, I am going to appeal to you, my wonderful readers for suggestions.  We need suggestions for fingering-weight NONWOOL yarn, preferably all-acrylic content. I'm thinking soft and machine-washable for hospital nurseries.  It would be swell if you could leave some ideas for Diane in the comments. The first thing I thought of was Berroco Comfort Baby, which is fingering weight and an acrylic/nylon blend.  (Link here.)

Thanks!

Squeaking it in

In the very nick of time, Happy National Quilting Day!  Just finished is a throw for Little Miss:

I did simple brick-shaped blocks, using a bunch of Hello Kitty fabrics that I bought on-line, and mixing in some solids and one or two other pink prints.  I started this a while back, and did some really simple straight line quilting with the machine since Little Miss was bugging me about it  eagerly inquiring when it would be done.

I bound the edges with bright pink solid edging

and used a very cute peace-sign-themed print for the back.

Once again, my trusty quilt-holder has risen to the challenge.

In other news, I have been working to match up prize donors with prize winners in the Summer Search raffle. There are still one or two connections to be made; I got a little behind with a nasty cold earlier in the month. But never fear: all prizes will be awarded!  I attended a Summer Search event earlier in the week, and they were extremely impressed with the enthusiasm and generosity of the knitting community. I'm thinking about doing a fall event in which we knit warm things for the Summer Search kids who will be starting their freshman years at college this fall. Would any of you be up for knitting some simple items, like hats, mittens, wristwarmers or cowls for some Summer Search college students?

I also uploaded a batch of BFL Sock onto the BBF website and I couldn't resist some Downton Abbey-themed names, like Wrong Sort of Tweed

and Lady Edith

and a few extra skeins of CashSock, like Mrs. Hughes

You'll find all of these on the BBF site, and if you use the code "DOWNTON" you will get 15 percent off an order of $25 or more in merchandise. And if you like to see and touch your yarn before purchasing, don't forget that I'll be doing a trunk show at Loop Yarn next weekend, March 24-25, in conjunction with Melissa Morgan-Oakes' teaching two-at-a-time classes there! (P.S. A little bird told me that not only is Denyse Schmidt there this weekend (!), but there is also a sale on KOIGU going on right now.)

I've got some excellent books to review in coming weeks, so don't think that just because warmer weather is here in the northeast US that it's time to lose interest in knitting.  No, sir, there are some great books coming up with plenty of small projects perfect for spring and summer knitting.  Stay tuned!

Happy International Women's History Day!

A few weeks ago, I received an email from the lovely folks at Stewart Tabori and Chang (who publish some of my favorite knitting books) asking me if I'd like to participate in a special blogger's event.  It seems that today is International Women's History Day, and STC is sponsoring a BlogFest, asking craft-related to bloggers to share some thoughts on this year's theme: Women's Education, Women's Empowerment. You can watch a video they created on the topic of knitting and women's empowerment here.

I was given a choice of topics to write about and opted for "Who is your favorite female historical figure? Did she knit?"

I quickly thought of a half-dozen female historical figures that I like, including women like Marie Curie, Abigail Adams and Mary Cassatt.  Given the times in which these women lived,  I have to assume that they knit at least a little bit. But it's impossible to know for sure how they felt about their knitting: was it simply a necessary chore? did they take satisfaction in it? did it ever spark their creativity or make them feel empowered?

Since this is primarily a knitting-related blog, I decided to look for a historical figure who did have a history of knitting associated with her (Madame Defarge, being fictional, doesn't count), and finally I remembered the story of Molly "Mom" Rinker.

I live outside Philadelphia, where our country's colonial history is interwoven into the landscape. Whether it's seeing Valley Forge park where Washington's troops spent a dreadful winter, or driving on cobblestone roads in Old City near Independence Hall, or chaperoning a field trip to Betsy Ross House, reminders of the Revolutionary War are everywhere. In Fairmount Park, near the Wissahickon Creek, a statute stands on a rocky outlook known as Mom Rinker's Rock. Legend has it that a tavern owner named Molly Rinker, nicknamed "Mom," used to scout out the location of British troops during the Battle of Germantown, taking notes on their movements.  She would then write down the information and wrap it inside a ball of yarn.  She dropped the yarn down to Revolutionary couriers who were waiting below.

Another version of the story -- penned by YA writer Laurie Halse Anderson -- describes it this way:

American agents spying on the British in Philadelphia smuggled notes to "Mom Rinker" who buried the notes deep in balls of yarn. "Mom" liked to knit in a cliff, where she laid out her linen to bleach in the sun. While knitting, she would let her yarn with the secret notes roll off the cliff to the American soldiers waiting below.

Independent Dames, Laurie Halse Anderson (Simon and Schuster 2008).

It's a fabulous story, and there does seem to be at least some support in the historical record for Mom Rinker's actions as spy; one on-line article notes that American General John Armstrong wrote:

Molly Rinker scaled these impossible cliffs like a ghost in the mist and found out the hideabouts of those red-coated scoundrels. I remain convinced that without this brave women surely we of 300 men strong were doomed that day.

Whether or not it's strictly true, the story of Mom Rinker illustrates an essential truth about women.  Even when men try to relegate women to a narrow role in society, strong, smart, persistent women nevertheless find a way to contribute.  If a capable and intelligent woman wants to help with the war effort, but gets patted on the head and told "Just knit stockings for the troops," she doesn't let it stop there.  While she's sitting there knitting on the top of the cliff, she figures out a way to pass on valuable intelligence to the army to help win the battle.  (And she probably ended up knitting a lot of stockings for the troops, too--most smart, strong women I know are consummate multitaskers.) 

So today, we celebrate all of the smart, capable, strong and persistent women of history, who refused to be defined by someone else's idea of what they could do. Your knitting may not inspire you to become a spy for your country, but it probably does make you feel capable, productive, and give you a sense of accomplishment -- or maybe it provides a badly-needed break from the stresses of the other things you do in your life. And with every stitch you take, you are following in a long line of women who used two sticks and some string to help clothe their family, create items to sell to help pay the rent, or let their creativity flourish on a palette of knitted fabric.

In celebration of all that knitting does for us, STC is giving away a free E-book copy of the A Knitter's Home Companion by Michelle Edwards.  Leave a comment telling how knitting (or other crafts) help empower you and we'll pick a random commenter to win.

Summer Search Raffle Winners!

It's hard for me to express how moved I am by the support of the Go Knit In Your Hat community.  You helped raise a whopping total of $1155 for Philadelphia's Summer Search nonprofit.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  You are helping some deserving teenagers stay in high school and go on to college, and your gift will have a lasting impact on their lives. I heard from Summer Search and they are beyond thrilled.  In fact, my contact there sent me an email that said simply  "Knitters rock!"

While Nana was here to see Little Miss's thespian premiere as a fork in Beauty & the Beast

I put her to work drawing names for the prize winners.

(See how seriously she took her responsibilities? There was no "monkey business," as she would say.)

So without further ado, here are the prize winners:

1.  Signed copy of Wendy Knits Lace:  Jill W.

2.  StephCat pattern selection: Barbara H.

3.  BBF yarn package:  Terry D.

4.  Puff the Magic Rabbit roving:  Janet L.

5.  BBF spinner's package: Barbara H.

6.  Hunter Hammersen's upcoming book:  Kathy K.

7.  A signed advance copy of my new book:  Shaz

8. Knitted accessory by Somebunnyslove:  Terry D.

9. Patterns by Leana:  Kelly J.

10.  Patterns from Lady Wyvern:  Julie Sch.

11. Ancient Arts goodies:  Molly T.B.

12.  Webs gift cert:  Sharon F.

13. Loop yarn and pattern: Laurel W.

14. Universal kit:  Molly T.B.

15.  Gardiner Yarnworks Patterns:  Bonnie B-G

16.  Knit Circus gift:  Allison K.

17.  Barb Brown's Knitting KneeHighs book:  Bonnie B-G

18.  Fine Line book:  Jennifer L.

Prize winners:  I am going to contact you within the next day to confirm your shipping info. The prizes will be coming directly from the donators, so it make take a little bit of time for us to get everything coordinated. Prize donors: as soon as I have shipping info, I will email you.  

Congrats to all of the prize winners!  To those who did not win a prize, you still are winners in my book since you helped a very worthy nonprofit keep doing its good work. And to all of the wonderful folks who donated prizes, thank YOU so much for making this happen.

Again, it's hard for me to verbalize how much your warmth and support mean to me. I know times are tough for many of you, and I greatly appreciate every penny of every contribution.

Playing around

We all know how easy it is to get into a rut, even when doing something that is generally considered a creative endeavor.  I don't know that I've been playing with fabric long enough to have found myself in an official "rut," but I did decide it would be fun to try doing some patchwork squares that consisted of smaller pieces sew together, rather than bigger blocks made of a single fabric like I have been doing.  I found some instructions for making wonky nine-patch blocks (oh, you quilters, with your "wonky" and your "scrappy") and gave it a go.

I wasn't able to master the trick of shuffling the blocks around so that each block has one square of every different fabric, but it was still really fun to end up with pieced blocks.  Wonky pieced blocks.  Wonky AND scrappy pieced blocks.

Trying something different with fabric got me thinking the next time I was dyeing yarn.  I have always loved creating really saturated colorways, but lately I have been seeing a lot of yarns featuring more dappled colors, with more variations in how the colors take and more colors peeking through in layers.  I don't know if I'm being clear -- it's hard to verbalize this kind of thing -- but I figured I would play around with some different techniques and see what happened. The last batch of yarns I did (some Superwash Merino Classic Worsted and Cashmerino Sock) includes some of these skeins:

The top photo shows some of the dappled colors, and the peach one what happened when I played with overlapping colors.

These are two of the CashSock colorways that came out especially striking.  These are all in stock in the Black Bunny Fibers on-line shop.

Don't forget: there are still a few more days to participate in the Go Knit In Your Hat Summer-Search Fundraiser! The prizes are wonderful and we're SO VERY CLOSE to my goal of raising a thousand dollars for Summer Search:

See the list of fabulous prizes here..... -- including knitting books! yarn! roving! and other goodies!!!